Jason, unfortunatly some people do just that. I got a bill recently for £90 that turned out to be a lot more as they didn't tell me (or I didn't see) that the price was ex vat. It helps accountants to have the vat listed seperatly but I think that it is wrong when they only quote the ex vat price. In this particular cast I had budgeted for £90 so it messed me up to have to pay more.

My point is... when I go to pay for my car repairs the bill might be, for example, £300 and will already include the VAT. The invoice will show the VAT but the guy doesn't say to me £XX + VAT, he'll just say £300. If you ask for a quote from a builder, for example, he'll say £10,000 + VAT, not the total figure.

generally we show the price and vat for our wholesale/business customers who can claim the vat back and so don't really care about the vat, and the final price to our retail customers who want to know how much they are paying.

But even if you claim the VAT back, you still have to pay it in the first place. Big companies might have enough money that it doesn't matter, but small businesses with cash flow issues could come unstuck when they have to pay the inc vat price.

no if we quote a price to a business we say its £100 plus VAT (which would be £120)

if you are purchasing from a shop the price iwould be £120. there is no dishonesty, it is an attempt to make it less confusing.

It would be dishonest to quote a price of £100, and then at the time of payment say ar yes, that is £100+VAT... businesses expect to be told what the VAT component is, or at least if I am quoting inc VAT or ex VAT (and 90% of my suppliers quote ex VAT).

The price doesn't change, we just give you the information you generally want... and if a retail customer wanted to know the ex VAT price we would give it to them.

However we then get into the how much for cash, which some people expect us to give them the ex VAT price, but is illegal and something we dont' do

if a business is registered for VAT, it must charge VAT at the appropriate rate for all goods and services, unless they are specifically exempt. Whenever they supply goods or services to someone else who is also registered for VAT they must give them a VAT invoice. The buyer may be able to reclaim the VAT paid on some goods and services, but only with a VAT invoice.

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